Method and apparatus for the development of competency based educational courses and curriculum

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for the development of educational courses and curriculum using a secure web based server computer platform and software application that aligns course outcomes and course learning objectives with core and specialized course competencies and uniquely develops course summary and compliance reports that may be used for course approval and accreditation of an educational institution. The course development software program provides a course syllabus that includes presentation summaries, textbook, video, test and other materials and assignments for a teacher to easily organize and present daily activities for the classroom.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/632,805, filed Feb. 26, 2015, entitled “METHODAND APPARATUS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMPETENCY BASED EDUCATIONALCOURSES AND CURRICULUM,” which claims the benefit U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 62/046,194, filed Sep. 5, 2014, entitled “METHODAND APPARATUS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMPETENCY BASED EDUCATIONALCOURSES AND CURRICULUM,” the contents of which are hereby incorporatedherein in their entirety by this reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a method and apparatus for the development ofeducational courses and curriculum using a secure web based servercomputer platform and software application that aligns course outcomesand course learning objectives with core and specialized coursecompetencies and uniquely develops course summary and compliance reportsthat may be used for course approval and accreditation of any type ofeducational institution or training within an organization. The coursedevelopment software program further provides a course syllabus thatincludes presentation summaries, textbook information, video, test andother course materials and assignments for a teacher to easily organizeand present daily activities for the classroom.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

For the majority of universities and colleges in the United States,educational course development remains a challenging, expensive andtime-consuming process often requiring repetitive hands-on involvementby college professors, department chairs, deans, and administrators.Only a fortunate number of educational institutions can afford to havespecialized in-house curriculum development groups work with collegeprofessors and handle much of the development process. Certain largeuniversities and colleges are engaging outside organizations to providedeveloped courses of instruction principally for large audience on-lineprograms at the graduate and undergraduate levels further removingoversight and approval from the universities administration. Thissituation is similar at lower grade levels where teachers in public andprivate schools with limited time and resources may preferably repeatlessons year after year with only minor modifications rather than putthe time and substantial effort required in to develop new coursematerials and curriculums. As educational mandates are enforced andfinancial challenges are faced at all academic levels, it is more andmore critical that an institution's educational administration canmonitor and approve course development activities to assure alignmentwith competency requirements to maintain and achieve competitiveadvantages over other institutions.

Currently in developing a course, the professor or other educator isgiven the core and specialization competency requirements developed forthe course by the educational institution and must use this informationto develop the course content and the syllabus to coherently structurethe material within the available calendar days when the course will bepresented. While some educational institutions may provide technicalassistance from professional instructional designers, softwaretechnicians, and/or IT specialists, the duties of these individuals mayprincipally involve advising on technical issues and placing thecompleted course on the school's learning management system platform,leaving the college professor with the onerous process of consideringhow to create and/or supplement the course content with additionalmaterial to meet the core and specialization competencies.

The professor must create course outcomes and learning objectives toalign with the competencies which in some cases means the professor mustdevelop entirely new course content or extensively update existingcourse content to meet these requirements. They must then divide thecourse content into classes with specific topics which align with theschool calendar, and the core competencies, specialization competencies,course outcomes and learning objectives leading to the goal ofdeveloping the course syllabus. At any point in time, if the educationalinstitution and/or the professor changes any core or specializationcompetency, any course outcome, any learning objective, any class topicor any date when the class will be offered, the professor must make therequired amendments and update any portions of the course documents thatare effected by the amendments. He must then go back to the beginningand carefully step through and re-read the course documents to determinewhether the course competencies continue to align with the courseoutcomes and learning objectives, class topics and dates. At variouspoints in the process the professor may submit the course for review totheir department chair, dean, associate dean and/or others which mayrequire repeated back and forth steps of review to reach approval. Ifchanges are required, the professor is again required to review how eachchange impacts the course competencies within each part of the course.Additionally, the current curriculum development process may alsonecessitate that the college professor have a high level of computerskills including, but not limited to: experience with the full MicrosoftOffice Suite of applications; specialized software applicationsinvolving audio/video production; and ultimately an understanding ofissues with the integration of the course with the educationalinstitution's learning management system.

While appropriate course development is critical for an educationalinstitution to demonstrate with evidence that it meets the requirementsof accreditation, the process of substantiating this can be a huge taskfor an educator with each professor required to substantiate anddocument their course work in order to provide the necessary workproduct for the accreditation process. This evidence must include anassessment that a course can articulate the purposes, content andintended learning outcomes of its competency requirements. The criteriafor accreditation include any number of factors, and must primarily showthere is a focus on student learning and that learning objectives aremet. The software application of the present invention provides a secureweb environment that efficiently makes each professor or educator anaccomplished competency based course developer, capable of developing acourse that will meet the demands of accrediting agencies as if eachschool had their own specialized in house or out-sourced coursedevelopment group.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The method and apparatus of the present invention is for the developmentof educational courses and curriculum using a course developmentsoftware application implemented on a secure web based server computerplatform. The course development software application of the presentinvention provides for an educator at any grade level to structurecourse content and materials with core and specialized course competencyrequirements and to integrate and align these competencies with courseoutcomes and learning objectives. From this integration and alignment ofcourse competencies, outcomes and learning objectives, the coursedevelopment software application uniquely develops course summary andcompliance reports that may be used for the accreditation of aneducational institution. The software application and computer platformmay be referred to herein as DesignYourCourse.com™ which is auser-friendly step by step software application that may be used bycollege professors, department chairs, instructional designers, highschool and grade school teachers, administrators, and other trainingorganizations to assist in developing and delivering consistent, highquality, competency-based student curriculum. The secure accessibilityof the DesignYourCourse.com™ web portal allows these stakeholders tocollaborate and comment on the course development process in real timesaving time and money. Whether the course of instruction is delivered inthe traditional classroom, a blended class (i.e., a traditionalclassroom and a web-based on-line class) or be accessible only as aweb-based on-line class, the DesignYourCourse.com™ software applicationof the present invention meets the curriculum development needs of anytype of educational institution and provides educators with the abilityto develop courses that meet the highest standards of accreditation.Specialized computer skills are not required to consistently andefficiently prepare course syllabuses which are aligned with theeducational institution's core and specialized competencies. The coursesyllabus may list lectures and presentations that may be accessible liveor as video through an intranet or inter-net connection. The syllabusmay also list the required textbooks and course materials, and allowstudents to purchase these materials through an online shopping portal.The course development software application also seamlessly integratesthe course information with the educational institute's learningmanagement system platform to post and have the course syllabusaccessible to any number of students.

The software application and computer platform further provides aninventory of competencies, outcomes and learning objectives for a widevariety of courses in a multitude of subjects, to save time and allow aneducator to easily find and review specific course requirements andfocus their expertise on structuring and presenting course materialsthat enrich the student's learning experience. These competencies,outcomes and learning objectives may be easily updated based on therequirements of a particular institution, government bureaucracy, orcurriculum. The course development software application further createsreports that are referred to herein as COLO Summary Reports™ and COLOCompliance Reports™ that are prepared in conjunction with the coursesyllabus. These reports support the educational institution'saccreditation process by demonstrating clear alignment between thecourse core and specialized competencies, outcomes and learningobjectives and the individual class learning objectives and topics.

It is an object of the software application and computer platform of thepresent invention that one or more secure domains are developed for eacheducational institution with customizable features to display logos andinsignia from the institution and to provide secure access at differentadministrative levels for course development and review.

It is a further object of the software application of the presentinvention that secure personal profiles for each user within aneducational institution is provided with personal preferences, storageand secure accessibility to restrict and prevent unauthorized access asdetermined through preset administrative tools.

It is a further object of the software application of the presentinvention that course information may be edited and transportable usinga modular format that provides for any portion of the content, thepresentation day, assignments, course materials, course outcomes, courselearning objectives, core and specialized course competencies, and othercontent and features to be easily modified and moved as necessary withina development module design interface.

It is another object of the software application of the presentinvention that course information, the course syllabus, lectures,presentations, textbooks and course materials from the softwareapplication computer platform of the present invention be integratedwith an educational institution's learning management system platform tobe accessible to faculty, administrators, students and others.

It is another object of the software application of the presentinvention to generate reports that support the educational institutionin the accreditation process.

It is another object of the software application that access and userequires minimal computer skills for the creation of courses and themodification of content with use of features of the software applicationbeing intuitive and easy.

It is another object of the software application that a module designinterface provides for portions of the software to be modified whilealignment and associations of modules with content and competenciesremain intact.

It is another object of the invention that an inventory of competencies,outcomes and learning objectives for a wide variety of courses in amultitude of subjects is available to educators to assist in coursedevelopment and the accreditation process.

It is another object of the invention that content of the inventory ofcompetencies, outcomes and learning objectives is updated in a securemanner as required.

The present invention is related to a competency based educationalcourse development system implemented as a software application on acomputer system, comprising a course development software applicationimplemented on a computer system, the computer system having computerhardware, system memory, at least one database, data storage andcommunications interfaces that facilitate the transformation of datausing the course development software application; the coursedevelopment software application comprising a course information module,a course competencies module; and wherein the course developmentsoftware application transforms transactional data entered into thecourse information module to integrate the course informationtransactional data with transactional data entered into the coursecompetencies module to develop competency based educational courses.

The course competencies module of the competency based educationalcourse development system implemented as a software application on acomputer system may have a specialization competencies module, a courseoutcomes module, and/or a learning objectives module. The coursecompetencies module may comprise an inventory of core and specializationcompetencies, outcomes and learning objectives for a wide variety ofcourses in a multitude of subjects. The competency based educationalcourse development system may comprise a comprehensive summary reportmodule that transforms and integrates transactional data from the coursedevelopment software application to develop a summary report foraccreditation of an educational institution. The competency basededucational course development system may comprise a comprehensivecompliance report module that transforms and integrates transactionaldata from the course development software application to develop acompliance report for accreditation of an educational institution. Thecompetency based educational course development system implemented as asoftware application on a computer system may comprise a module designinterface that transforms, integrates and modularizes transactional datafrom the course development software application to develop, display,and modify a course syllabus. The course development softwareapplication may transform transactional data to integrate the courseinformation and course syllabus with a learning management system of aneducational institution. The competency based educational coursedevelopment system may comprise administrative tools to restrictfeatures and access to users based on authorization, appropriate logins,and passwords and may comprise a web based server computer system forimplementation of the course development system through an internet orlocal area network connection. A unique domain for each implementationof the course development system through the web based server computersystem may be provided.

The present invention is also related to a method for the development ofcompetency based educational courses using a course development systemimplemented as a software application on a computer system, comprisingthe steps of implementing a course development software application on acomputer system having computer hardware, system memory, at least onedatabase, data storage and communications interfaces; constructing thecourse development software application with a course information moduleand a course competencies module; entering data into the courseinformation module; entering data into the course competencies module;and transforming the data entered into the course information module tointegrate the course information transactional data with transactionaldata entered into the course competencies module to develop competencybased educational courses.

The method for the development of competency based educational coursesmay comprise the step of integrating the course informationtransactional data with specialized competencies data, with courseoutcomes data, and/or with learning objectives data entered in thecourse competencies module. The method for the development of competencybased educational courses may comprise the step of constructing thecourse competencies module with an inventory of competencies, outcomes,and learning objectives for a wide variety of courses in a multitude ofsubjects; and storing the inventory within at least one database of acomputer system.

The method for the development of competency based educational coursesmay comprise the steps of transforming and integrating transactionaldata from the course development software application to develop asummary report and/or to develop a compliance report for accreditationof an educational institution. The method for the development ofcompetency based educational courses using a course development systemimplemented as a software application on a computer system may comprisethe steps of transforming, integrating and modularizing thetransactional data to develop, display, and modify a course syllabus.The method for the development of competency based educational coursesusing a course development system may transform transactional data tointegrate the course information and course syllabus with a learningmanagement system of an educational institution.

The method for the development of competency based educational coursesusing a course development system implemented as a software applicationon a computer system may comprise the step of accessing the coursedevelopment software application through a web based server computersystem using an internet or local area network connection and theconfiguring of the course development system through the web basedserver computer system with a unique domain for each educationalinstitution.

These and other features, advantages and improvements according to thisinvention will be better understood by reference to the followingdetailed description and accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Several embodiments of the present invention will now be described byway of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic representation of a server computer system inan embodiment of the course development software application of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic representation of an embodiment of a web basedserver computer platform using an intranet or internet network system inan embodiment of the course development software application of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is a representation of a home page in an embodiment of the coursedevelopment software application of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a representation of a login page in an embodiment of thecourse development software application of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a representation of a dashboard in an embodiment of the coursedevelopment software application of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a representation of a personalized profile page in anembodiment of the course development software application of the presentinvention;

FIG. 7 is a representation of a course information module in anembodiment of the course development software application of the presentinvention;

FIG. 8 is a representation of a course information module showing courseprofessors in an embodiment of the course development softwareapplication of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a representation of a course information module showing classtimes in an embodiment of the course development software application ofthe present invention;

FIG. 10 is a representation of a course information module showingcourse materials in an embodiment of the course development softwareapplication of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a representation of a course competencies module in anembodiment of the course development software application of the presentinvention;

FIG. 12 is a representation of a course specialization competenciesmodule in an embodiment of the course development software applicationof the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a representation of a course outcomes module in an embodimentof the course development software application of the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a representation of a course learning objectives module in anembodiment of the course development software application of the presentinvention;

FIG. 15 is a representation of a course completion page in an embodimentof the course development software application of the present invention;

FIG. 16 is a representation of an embodiment of a COLO Summary Report™Module in an embodiment of the course development software applicationof the present invention;

FIG. 17 is a representation of course outcomes provided in an embodimentof a COLO Summary Report™ in an embodiment of the course developmentsoftware application of the present invention;

FIG. 18 is a representation of modular design interface for developingand modifying a course syllabus in an embodiment of the coursedevelopment software application of the present invention;

FIG. 19 is a representation of an embodiment of a COLO ComplianceReport™ Module in an embodiment of the course development softwareapplication of the present invention; and

FIG. 20 is a representation of Course Syllabus Download Module in anembodiment of the course development software application of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As shown in FIG. 1, there is illustrated a computer system 3 fordeploying the present invention. Although the computer system 3 is shownfor the purpose of illustrating an embodiment, the present invention isnot limited to the computer system 3 shown, but may be used with anyelectronic processing system such as found in digital communicationsdevices, cellular phones and other mobile devices, home computers,laptop computers, tablet computers, or any other system for theprocessing of digital data. The computer system 3 includes a servercomputer 4 having a microprocessor-based unit 5 (also referred to hereinas a processor) for receiving and processing software programs and forperforming other processing functions. An output device 7 such as avisual display is electrically connected to the microprocessor-basedunit 5 for displaying user-related information associated with thesoftware, e.g., by means of a graphical user interface. A keyboard 8 isalso connected to the microprocessor-based unit 5 for permitting a userto input information to a software program. As an alternative or inaddition to using the keyboard 8 for input, a mouse 6 may be used formoving a selector on the display 7 or alternatively a touch screen orother input device may be provided for selecting an item and operationof the software application.

The output device 7 provides visually to the user transactional datathat has been subject to transformations using the course developmentsoftware application of the present invention implemented on a computersystem 3. The output device 7 can be a monitor, a tablet computer, orother visual computer screen or graphical user interface (GUI) a printeror other digital device that provides a visual or other typerepresentation of a final output from the microprocessor-based unit 5.The output device 7 can also be an output device that provides thetransactional data as a digital file. The microprocessor-based unit 5provides means for processing the transactional data to produce readilydiscernible, informational and organized images and data on the intendedoutput device 7 or media. The present invention can be used with avariety of other output devices that can include, but are not limitedto, a digital photographic printer and soft copy display. Those skilledin the art will recognize that the present invention is not limited tojust these mentioned data processing functions. The server computer 4shown in FIG. 1 can store computer programs by having a program storedin an internal or external computer readable storage medium 11, whichmay include, for example: magnetic storage media such as a magnetic diskor magnetic tape; optical storage media such as an optical disc, opticaltape, or machine readable bar code; solid state electronic storagedevices such as random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM) orflash memory or other data storage devices. The associated computerprograms may be stored locally and or remotely on a virtual machine (VM)or data center using any other physical device or medium employed tostore a computer program indicated by offline memory device. Forexample, the method can be performed using a system including one ormore digital communications devices and/or one or more personal computersystems. The digital devices may be connected wirelessly, using WiFi,Bluetooth, cellular or other radio-frequency links, and it is to beappreciated that such devices can be mobile devices (e.g., iPod, iPad,tablet computer, notebook, laptop, smart phone, or cell phone that canbe used as a processing unit, a display unit, and/or a unit to giveprocessing instructions), and as a service offered through a networkconnection 13 via the internet 14.

The course development software application 10 may be built using acombination of HTML, CSS, Java Script, JQuery, and PHP or other softwarelanguages where those skilled in the art will readily recognize that theequivalent of such software may also be constructed in computer,electrical and communications hardware. The course development softwareapplication 10 may have a communications interface 15, code related tothe software application 17 and administrative tools 20. Thecommunications interface 15 may be an email server to transmit messagesand notifications to users of the course development softwareapplication 10. The administrative tools 20 set and prioritize accessand features to users based on requirements of use. Data records 12 suchas an inventory of competencies, outcomes and learning objectives for awide variety of courses in a multitude of subjects may be accessible tosome or all users as determined by course requirements andadministrative access established for each user. Because datamanipulation algorithms and systems are well known, the presentdescription emphasizes algorithms and features forming part of, orcooperating more directly with the method and hardware of the presentlydisclosed invention. General features of databases, digitalcommunications devices, email and computerized systems are likewise wellknown, and the present description is generally limited to those aspectsdirectly related to the method and related hardware of the invention.Other aspects of such algorithms and apparatus, and hardware and/orsoftware for producing and otherwise processing the data involvedtherewith, not specifically shown or described herein may be selectedfrom such systems, algorithms, components, and elements known in theart.

Implementation of the course development software application 10 may bein conjunction with one or more database management systems (DBMS) 19such as Oracle, IBM DB2, Microsoft SQL Server, PostageSQL, MySQL, orothers using widely supported database languages such as SQL to defineand manipulate data and perform data queries. Other aspects of suchalgorithms and apparatus, and hardware and/or software for producing andotherwise processing the data involved therewith, not specifically shownor described herein may be selected from any such systems, algorithms,components, and elements known in the art. The software application andcomputer platform may be hosted on a SSL, SSL 256, SHTTP bit securedserver as a fully redundant data center. The platform may have multiplelevels of security and layers of redundancy built in to make sure thatall data and personal information is secured and not open to the public.Data replication and redundancy may be performed automatically and allservers may be secured in optimal conditions. The implementation mayfurther provide synchronization of local and remote desktop clientsusing virtual machine check in and check out operations to maintainaccess to the most recently updated local or remote copies that reflectuser changes to software programs and accessed data files.

In each context, the invention may stand alone or may be a component ofa larger system solution. Furthermore, human interfaces, e.g., theinput, the digital processing, the display to a user, the input of userrequests or processing instructions, the output, can each be on the sameor different devices and physical locations, and communication betweenthe devices and locations can be via public or private networkconnections, or media based communication. Where consistent with theforegoing disclosure of the present invention, aspects of the method ofthe invention can be fully automatic, may have user input (be fully orpartially manual), may have user or operator review to accept/reject theresult, or may be assisted by data or metadata (data or metadata thatmay be user supplied, supplied by another computer program or databasefrom a different application or determined by an algorithm). Moreover,the algorithm(s) may interface with a variety of workflow user interfaceschemes.

The course development software application 10 of the present inventionmay be implemented through the application software 17 downloaded to theserver 4 and/or as a web-native software application delivery model orSaaS (Software as a Service) to be hosted and operated as an on demandcomputing service such as a cloud or shared resource database through aweb browser using the internet 14 through an internet connection 13. Thecourse development software application 10 may include policies andprotocols in cloud description language (CDL) and domain specificlanguages (DSL) for this implementation to manage and monitor secureaccess and system usage to one or more domains to provide multiplevirtual servers 18 with each server serving one or more instantiationsof the course development software application 10. Security of thevirtual server 18 is provided by having a separate virtual server 18setup for each educational institution 24 using a unique domain namethat may be active solely during the period of course development, andmay be immediately deactivated upon completion or at any time. Eachvirtual server 18 has data storage where unique data records 21, 23 and25 specific to the educational institution 24 are secured. External data27 including competencies, outcomes and learning objectives developed bythe educational institution 24 and/or from government and educationalorganizations and agencies may be available through a network and/orinternet connection 13. At all times, the educational institution'stransactional data and course content is protected from unauthorizedaccess and copying through the secure management protocols of the coursedevelopment software application 10. At completion, access to the coursedevelopment software application 10 may be inactivated and the entiredatabase with all data may be ported to a storage unit and be providedto the educational institution 24 as a secure record of all processingsteps, communications and transactional data of the course curriculumdevelopment.

Users of the course development software application 10 associated withan educational institution 24 will access the secure virtual server 18using a unique domain name and then enter a secure login name andpassword which provides access at different administrative levels basedon their use. As shown in FIG. 2, the users may be educators 31 such ascollege professors that access the virtual server 18 through theirdesktop, laptop, or tablet computer systems. The users may also beinstitutional administrators 33 such as department chairs or deans thatmay access the course development software application 10 virtual server18 to review and approve course content and the alignment of contentwith competency requirements and objectives. Other users may be students35 that access the course syllabus and course materials and may purchasetextbooks through the virtual server 18 that may be integrated with theeducational institution's learning management system 34 or may providelinks to external websites for downloads of material or purchases. Eachuser is granted appropriate access to the secure project specific domainof the virtual server 18 through an administrator 29 usingadministrative tools 20 to control the levels of access so as to preventor limit access to the course development software application 10through pre-defined privileges based on responsibility and usage. Theadministrator 29 also monitors performance of the course developmentsoftware application 10 and assists with training and operation of thesite as needed.

By entering the appropriate domain name 42 of the virtual server 18, ahome page 41 as shown in FIG. 3 provides options for a user. TheDesignYourCourse.com™ home page 41 in an embodiment of the coursedevelopment software application 10 may provide a title 43 and logo 45with information about the software and company as the administrator ofthe course development software application 10 in an about us page 47.Additional pages may have information on available markets 49 related toeducational subjects, grade levels, educational organizations,government agencies, and/or career training centers that may use thecourse development software application. Other pages may provideinformation on available software products 51, partnerships 53 witheducational organizations or others, and software portals 55 to accessother features. To access the course development software application10, the user must first select the login button 57 which opens a loginpage 65 that has a data input options for the user to enter their loginname 67 and password 69, as shown in FIG. 4. The user must then thenselect the login button 71 and if the appropriate user login informationhas been entered, the home page is displayed again and theDesignYourCourse™ button 59, the Design Your Textbook button 61, andDesign Your Syllabus button 63 will be active for the authorized user.The user may then select the Design Your Course button 59 to access thecourse development Professor Portal page 73 as shown in FIG. 5. TheProfessor Portal page 73 gives the professors name 75, email 77 and theoption to logout 79. The Professor Portal page 73 also provides aneasily accessible menu 81 that provides access to features of thesoftware 10. The Dashboard 83 provides menu options as colorful iconsand allows the user to access particular features such as work inprogress so the user can easily return to a course they were developing.In an embodiment of the course development software application 10,these features are My Profile 85, Design Your Course 87, Course Pending89, and Course Completed 91. Each of these features may be accessiblethrough the Dashboard 83 icons or through the menu 81.

The My Profile 85 option opens the user's profile page 92 as shown inFIG. 6 and offers an Edit Your Profile 93 feature that allows the userto enter information 95 such as name, address, email, telephone numbers,and other information such as social media account information that maybe used to access or display courses developed by the user. A displayoption 97 provides for any selected profile information to be visible inthe pages of the course development software application 10 andunselected information to be hidden as desired.

By selecting the Design Your Course 87 option from the Dashboard 83 ormenu 81, the Course Information Module 100 may be displayed as shown inFIG. 7. The Course Information Module 100 has the Course Name 99 that isdisplayed with the University name and logo 101 on each page through thecourse development process. An option to return Back to Dashboard 103may also be provided. The Design Your Course menu 105 presented on theCourse Information Module 100 and other pages provides a step by stepprocess for the educator 31 or other user to step through and create orreview and edit a course. The Course Information Module 100 allows auser to enter the course level 109, the subject 111, the course name 113and course number 115. Some or all of this information may then bepresented on subsequent course development pages to identify the coursebeing developed. The Course Information Module 100 also provides theuser the option to enter when and for how long the course will bepresented providing for the total number of weeks 117, the number ofcredits 119, the year 121 and the semester 123 to be entered. One ormore professors 125 may be selected as shown in FIG. 8 to provideinformation on who will be teaching the course. The textbook dialog box127, as shown in FIG. 9, provides for the educator 31 to enter textbooksfor the course. The location 129 may be selected as either a webaccessible course or the location at the educational institution 24 witha classroom dialog box 131 to enter the specific room and building wherethe course will be offered. The days of the week 133 and time period 135for the course may also be entered. A supplemental course materialsdialog box 137 and Any Other Reading Materials 139, as shown in FIG. 10,provides for materials such as videos, articles and other referencematerial that will be needed for the course. The information in theCourse Information Module 100 may be saved by selecting the Save button141 for the user to exit the course development software application 10or by selecting the Save and Proceed button 143 that allows the user tomove to the next step which opens the Course Competencies Module 145, asshown in FIG. 11. In the step by step process for course development,the Course Competencies menu option 147 may be listed first and mostoften be the best choice for the educator 31 to begin with.

For example, for the college professor or other educator performing thiscurriculum development process in the context of his own research andteaching duties and the requirement to meet the strict accreditationstandards requested of each educational institution, a clearunderstanding of the course competencies required is critical. While insome cases the professor may use their own competencies, most often theinstitutional administrator, department chairs and deans may determinethese requirements, so these may be initially entered by the coursedevelopment software application administrator 30 and may then beprovided in a Course Competencies list 149 within the CourseCompetencies Module 145. The Module 145 also provides for additionalcompetencies to be entered within the Your Added Competencies section151 that allows the college professor or other course developer to addadditional competencies by selecting the Add More Course Competenciesoption 153. In this way the educator 31 may provide specificcompetencies related to the course material and requirements and reviewthese separately or in tandem with the competencies from theinstitutional requirements. From the Course Competencies list 149 anynumber of competencies that are related to the course may be selectedand the same or variations of the same competencies may be listed formore than one course. For example, courses that include lab work, mayhave competencies related to the practical application of the coursematerial which may be different from a similar course that does not havelab work. The required competencies for the course are chosen byselecting a check box 155 in the Course Competencies list 149, byselecting a check box 150 in the Your Added Competencies section 151 orby selecting the Select All Competencies check box 157 to have allcompetencies included with the course. Once data entry into the CourseCompetencies Module 145 is completed, the user may select the Savebutton 141 and exit, the Save and Proceed 143 to continue or the Skipbutton 159 if no additional information has been added to the Module145.

The next option from the menu 105 may be the selection of theSpecialization Competencies menu option 161 that opens theSpecialization Competencies Module 163 shown in FIG. 12. Similarly tothe Course Competencies Module 145 options are provided to add uniquespecialization competencies that are associated with the course content,the subject, the department, the institution or other requirements thatmay be more specific than the general course competencies. In thisexample, the Specialization Competencies list 165 does not have anycompetencies listed, but the options are provided for the professor toadd to this list using the Your Added Specialization Competenciessection 167 and selecting the Add More Specialization Competenciesoption 169. The check box 166 and other check boxes to include anynumber of the specialization competencies will be provided or the SelectAll Competencies check box 171 may be selected to add all specializationcompetencies.

The Course Outcomes Module 173 may be accessed using the Course Outcomesmenu option 175, as shown in FIG. 13. The course development softwareapplication administrator 30 may initially enter course outcomes topopulate an initial Course Outcome list 177, however the professor orother course developer may be responsible for entering additional datainto the Course Outcomes Module 173 based on the course material andassignment requirements of the course. The additional course outcomesare added to the Your Added Outcomes section 179 by selecting the AddMore Outcomes option 181. Check boxes 183 in the Course Outcome list 177and a check box 184 for the added course outcomes allow the professor toselect which outcomes will be included with the course or to opt for theSelect All Outcomes 185 to have all outcomes included.

Similarly, the Learning Objectives Module 187 may be accessed using theLearning Objectives menu option 189, as shown in FIG. 14. With initiallearning objectives provided in the Learning Objectives list 191 thatmay have been entered by the course development software applicationadministrator 30. The professor or other course developer may addlearning objectives in the Your Added Objectives section 193 based onthe course material and assignment requirements of the course. Theadditional learning objectives are added by selecting the Add MoreObjectives option 195. Check boxes 197 in the Learning Objectives list191 and a check box 198 for the added course objectives allow theprofessor to select any number of objectives or select the Select AllObjectives 199 to have all learning objectives included.

The core and specialization course competencies, outcomes and learningobjectives may all be entered by and according to the educationalinstitutions requirements. In order to assist with these requirements,the course development software application 10 provides an inventory ofrequirements for a wide variety of courses in a multitude of subjects.These requirements may be compiled and continually updated fromrequirements entered by users that may be administrators, or educators,without any identifying information as to the educational institution oruser that is the source of the requirement. In this manner, competencieswithin subject areas from different government agencies, educationalinstitutions, training facilities and/or other educational organizationsmay be accessed and be used by an educator to structure course materialto meet these required competencies without rewriting or reentering thecompetency requirements. At any time, the course developer may savetheir work entered and leave the course development software application10. The user may then reenter sections using the Design Your Course menu105 or enter a particular section for editing for example to add orchange course materials using the Design Your Textbook button 61 or tochange times or dates for presentation of the course using the DesignYour Syllabus button 63 from the home page 41. All of the informationthroughout the development process is securely retained in the virtualserver database for automatic retrieval as the development processcontinues. The Dashboard 83 provides the Course Pending option 89 thatprovides for a course developer to re-open the course developmentsoftware application 10 at the same step in the process that was leftpreviously, making it easy to keep track of what steps have beencompleted and what steps require further information.

After entering all of the information necessary including thecompetencies, outcomes and learning objectives, the Course CompletionSummary 201 may also be accessed through the Dashboard 83 or menu 81.The Course Completion Summary 201, as shown in FIG. 15, provides aCourse list 203 that includes the Course Number 205, the Course Name207, the Course Level 209, and an Action option 211 that allows a userto enter the course information to edit the information further or todelete the course from the Course list 203. The user as the collegeprofessor developing the course or as an educational institutionadministrator may select any course from the Course Completion Summary201 to open the course and access the menu 105 options for review andapproval.

From the menu 105, the user may select the COLO Summary Report™ menuoption 213 to open the COLO Summary Report™ Module 215, as shown in FIG.16 that develops and presents all of the entered course information in aunique summary report that shows the alignment of the course informationwith the core and specialized course competencies, course outcomes andcourse learning objectives and provides an easy method of review of thecourse information. Any number of course objectives and other courserequirements may be included in the COLO Summary Report™ as shown inFIG. 17. When satisfied, the college professor or other users may usethe software application tools of the COLO Summary Report™ Module 215 todownload the COLO Summary Report™ in Microsoft Word (.doc), MicrosoftExcel (.xls), Adobe Portable Document Format (.pdf), Hyper Text Mark Up(HTML) and other file formats that can be used in the course approvaland in the educational institution's accreditation process.

The college professor may then access an important feature of the coursedevelopment software application 10 that greatly simplifies thetransformation of the course information into a course syllabus. Theuser selects the Module Design menu option 217 to open the Module Designinterface 219 for the course, as shown in FIG. 18. This easy to usefeature presents a modular schedule that may be for each day of class orfor one or more days as required to complete each section and assignmentof the course. The course information is presented in a spreadsheet typeformat that lists the class day and/or dates in each row in a Datescolumn 221. The day and/or dates in each row are aligned with a ClassModule 223 that is numbered with each Module number listed in the Modulecolumn 225. Each Class Module 223 is associated with the learningobjectives that may be specific to the Class Module 223 or to a group ofrelated Class Modules 223. These learning objectives are listed in theModule Learning Objectives column 227. Also associated with the classModule 223 is the planned topic, content and activity for each ClassModule 223. With the learning objectives aligned with the coursecompetencies and outcomes and displayed with each Class Module 223, thecourse developer must simply enter the course content, topics andactivities in the Topics column 229 for each Class Module 223 and savethe Module Design interface 219 for the course. Reading assignments,lectures, presentations, required reports, tests and all other coursecontent can be entered on a day by day or class module by class modulebasis that can be easily modified. Once the content information isentered the Module Design interface 219 is saved. The college professoror course developer may then adjust the order of Class Modules 223 bydragging and dropping them into place to maintain alignment of thecompetencies, outcomes and learning objectives with the class day topic,content, activity and place the Class Module 223 in any order suitablefor the class schedule, availability of the professors, and thestructure of class assignments. The requirements may also be placed inany order and be moved separate from content and/or date and timeinformation with a simple mouse click by the user. In this veryintuitive way, a simple mouse click by the college professor,administrator, or other user retains the alignment of competencies withlearning objectives intact throughout the process of developing asyllabus with appropriate topics and content for the scheduled classes.There is no need for the user to cut and paste into subsequent coursedevelopments documents, or to have high level computer skills to formattables, or to structure document text properly to have the courseinformation aligned with the required competencies. The display of thecompetencies, outcomes and learning objectives within this contextualtimeframe of the Module Design interface 219 also provides for aninstitutional administrator or other users to easily verify that coursecontent overlaps and adheres to these requirements and that the topicsalign with the class schedule for the course.

When satisfied, the college professor can select the COLO ComplianceReport™ menu option 231 to open the COLO Summary Report™ Module 233 thatprovides COLO Compliance Report™ for review, as shown in FIG. 19. TheCOLO Compliance Report™ 233 integrates all of the information from theCourse Information Module 100, the Course Competencies Module 145, theSpecialization Competencies Module 163, the Course Outcomes Module 173,and the Learning Objectives Module 187 with the Module Design interface219 information that includes the course topics, content and activities.The COLO Compliance Report™ includes the necessary information for anauditor to review the course for adherence to competencies and approvethe educational institute for accreditation. Using the softwareapplication tools of the COLO Summary Report™ Module 233, the COLOCompliance Report™ is easily generated in various file formats such as.doc, .pdf, .xls and others including HTML. There is currently nocomparable methodology and apparatus that is accessible to educatorsthat can develop, compile and present course information in a way thatis as easy to use and review thereby greatly simplifying a verycomplicated process.

The course development software application 10 further provides for thecollege professor or other course developer to select the Download YourSyllabus menu option 235 to display the compiled Course Syllabus 237from the Course Information Module 100 and Module Design interface 223,as shown in FIG. 20. The Course Syllabus 237 may be produced in any fileformat such as .doc, .pdf, .xls and others including HTML which providesfor the course development software application 10 to easily integratethe Course Syllabus 237 with any educational institution's learningmanagement system platform 34 with features of the course developmentsoftware application 10 providing for the purchase of textbooks, thedownloading of reading materials, the access to lectures, presentationsand videos and other access points that support an integratededucational system solution that aligns competencies with the desiredstudent outcomes and learning objectives.

While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present invention,other and further embodiments of the invention may be devised withoutdeparting from the basic scope thereof. For example, althoughembodiments having various features have been described herein,combinations of such various features in other combinations notdiscussed herein are contemplated within the scope of embodiments of thepresent invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: setting, via a graphicaluser interface of a computing device, a unique domain name for a virtualserver configured for an educational institution, wherein differentvirtual servers are set for different educational institutions using arespective unique domain name to provide secured data access, whereinthe virtual server is configured on at least one physical server and oneor more computing devices connected to the at least one physical servervia internet, and wherein the unique domain name is listed andaccessible during a course development period; prompting, via thegraphical user interface, for processing course information, coursecompetencies information, or a combination thereof, wherein the courseinformation specifies a course subject and course content, and thecourse competencies information specifies one or more competencyrequirements associated with the course subject; receiving andprocessing, via the graphical user interface, the course information,the course competencies information, or a combination thereof checkedout from a virtual machine of the virtual server, wherein the virtualmachine maintains access to a most recently updated file of the courseinformation, the course competencies information, or a combinationthereof, wherein the most recently updated file reflects user changes toaccessed data; after the processing, initiating transmission overinternet, of the course information, the course competenciesinformation, or a combination thereof to check in the virtual machinefor assessment according to accreditation information, wherein theaccreditation information specifies accreditation standards of theeducational institution; receiving, via internet, assessment informationthat provides information about the assessment; and deleting the uniquedomain name upon completion of the course development period.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the virtual server is further configured inone or more databases, a cloud, or a combination thereof, and the courseinformation is provided by a first user, the method further comprising:presenting, via another graphical user interface, the course informationto a second user for approval by the second user.
 3. The method of claim1, wherein the processing includes creating, reviewing, editing, or acombination thereof, and the course information is provided by a firstuser, the method further comprising: presenting, via the graphical userinterface, a report based on the assessment information, wherein thereport includes information relating to alignment of the courseinformation and the course competencies information.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: displaying, via the graphical userinterface, a plurality of sections corresponding to the courseinformation, wherein the plurality of sections correspond to informationassociated with course level, subject, name of course, course duration,course credit, year, course semester, name of educator, proposedtextbook, location, class days, class time, supplemental material,reference material, or a combination thereof.
 5. The method of claim 4,further comprising: displaying, via the graphical user interface, one ormore boxes for selection of or editing of, the course competenciesinformation, specialization competencies information associated with thecourse content, course outcome information associated with the coursecontent, learning objectives information associated with the coursecontent, or a combination thereof.
 6. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: presenting, via the graphical user interface, a coursesyllabus based on the course information, wherein the course syllabusspecifies presentation information, testing information, assignmentinformation, textbook information and course materials information. 7.The method of claim 6, further comprising: initiating connection to anonline shopping portal for purchase of one or more items relating to thetextbook information and the course materials information.
 8. The methodof claim 6, further comprising: presenting, via the graphical userinterface, a list of live or pre-recorded lectures for one or morecourses in the course syllabus; and initiating connection to an onlineshopping portal for purchase of the live or the pre-recorded lectures.9. An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least onememory including computer program code for one or more programs, the atleast one memory and the computer program code configured to, with theat least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least thefollowing, set, via a graphical user interface of a computing device, aunique domain name for a virtual server configured for an educationalinstitution, wherein different virtual servers are set for differenteducational institutions using a respective unique domain name toprovide secured data access, wherein the virtual server is configured onat least one physical server and one or more computing devices connectedto the at least one physical server via internet, and wherein the uniquedomain name is listed and accessible during a course development period;prompt, via the graphical user interface, for processing courseinformation, course competencies information, or a combination thereof,wherein the course information specifies a course subject and coursecontent, and the course competencies information specifies one or morecompetency requirements associated with the course subject; receive andprocess, via the graphical user interface, the course information, thecourse competencies information, or a combination thereof checked outfrom a virtual machine of the virtual server, wherein the virtualmachine maintains access to a most recently updated file of the courseinformation, the course competencies information, or a combinationthereof, wherein the most recently updated file reflects user changes toaccessed data; after the processing, initiate transmission overinternet, of the course information, the course competenciesinformation, or a combination thereof to check in the virtual machinefor assessment according to accreditation information, wherein theaccreditation information specifies accreditation standards of theeducational institution; receive, via internet, assessment informationthat provides information about the assessment; and delete the uniquedomain name upon completion of the course development period.
 10. Theapparatus of claim 9, wherein the virtual server is further configuredin one or more databases, a cloud, or a combination thereof, and thecourse information is provided by a first user, wherein the apparatus isfurther caused to: present, via another graphical user interface, thecourse information to a second user for approval by the second user. 11.The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the processing includes creating,reviewing, editing, or a combination thereof, and the course informationis provided by a first user, wherein the apparatus is further caused to:present, via the graphical user interface, a report based on theassessment information, wherein the report includes information relatingto alignment of the course information and the course competenciesinformation.
 12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the apparatus isfurther caused to: display, via the graphical user interface, aplurality of sections corresponding to the course information, whereinthe plurality of sections correspond to information associated withcourse level, subject, name of course, course duration, course credit,year, course semester, name of educator, proposed textbook, location,class days, class time, supplemental material, reference material, or acombination thereof.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein theapparatus is further caused to: display, via the graphical userinterface, one or more boxes for selection of or editing of, the coursecompetencies information, specialization competencies informationassociated with the course content, course outcome informationassociated with the course content, learning objectives informationassociated with the course content, or a combination thereof.
 14. Theapparatus of claim 9, wherein the apparatus is further caused to:present, via the graphical user interface, a course syllabus based onthe course information, wherein the course syllabus specifiespresentation information, testing information, assignment information,textbook information and course materials information.
 15. The apparatusof claim 14, wherein the apparatus is further caused to: initiateconnection to an online shopping portal for purchase of one or moreitems relating to the textbook information and the course materialsinformation.
 16. A system comprising: one or more servers configured to,set, via a graphical user interface of a computing device, a uniquedomain name for a virtual server configured for an educationalinstitution, wherein different virtual servers are set for differenteducational institutions using a respective unique domain name toprovide secured data access, wherein the virtual server is configured onat least one physical server and one or more computing devices connectedto the at least one physical server via internet, and wherein the uniquedomain name is listed and accessible during a course development period;generate a plurality of prompts to be presented via the graphical userinterface over internet, wherein the plurality of prompts include afirst prompt requesting input by the user for course information,wherein the course information specifies a course subject and coursecontent, wherein the plurality of prompts further includes a secondprompt requesting course competencies information, wherein the coursecompetencies information specifies one or more competency requirementsassociated with the course subject; receiving and processing, via thegraphical user interface, the course information and the coursecompetencies information checked out from a virtual machine of thevirtual server, wherein the virtual machine maintains access to a mostrecently updated file of the course information, the course competenciesinformation, or a combination thereof, wherein the most recently updatedfile reflects user changes to accessed data; retrieving accreditationinformation specifying accreditation standards of the educationalinstitution; after the processing, assessing the course information andthe course competencies information that are checked in the virtualmachine based on the accreditation information; generating assessmentinformation based on the assessment of the course information and thecourse competencies information; and deleting the unique domain nameupon completion of the course development period.
 17. The system ofclaim 16, wherein the virtual server is further configured in one ormore databases, a cloud, or a combination thereof, and the one or moreservers are configured to: initiate transmission of the courseinformation to another device for approval by another user.
 18. Thesystem of claim 16, wherein the processing includes creating, reviewing,editing, or a combination thereof, and the one or more servers areconfigured to: generate a report based on the assessment information,wherein the report includes information relating to alignment of thecourse information and the course competencies information.
 19. Thesystem of claim 16, further comprising: a database configured to beaccessed by the one or more servers, and to store, the courseinformation, the course competencies information, specializationcompetencies information associated with the course content, courseoutcome information associated with the course content, and learningobjectives information associated with the course content.
 20. Thesystem of claim 16, wherein the one or more servers are configured to:generate a course syllabus based on the course information, wherein thecourse syllabus specifies presentation information, testing information,assignment information, textbook information and course materialsinformation.